Longisa hospital on the spot over patient deaths

Longisa County Referral Hospital in Bomet County has come under pressure to clarify the actual cause of the death of three patients during a power outage.

A senior officer at the hospital said two infants who were in an incubator and a cancer patient on oxygen in the Intensive Care Unit died after the generator developed a technical hitch, paralysing services for the better part of Monday.

Relatives of those who died said they were contemplating legal action against the hospital.

However, the hospital and the county health offices have denied the claims.

OXYGEN

Bomet County Chief Officer for Medical Services Zaddy Chumo and the hospital’s medical superintendent Ronny Kibet acknowledged that the generator had broken down, but denied this resulted in the deaths. “No one lost their lives during the period. The information doing rounds on social media is untrue,” said Mr Kibet.

According to him, two people died on that day, but for reasons not related to the generator or oxygen.

“One was an infant born with severe abnormalities who died at around 8 am when the power was still on. The other was an adult who had advanced medical problems who died at around 11 am,” said the superintendent.

Ms Chumo said the generator only ran until midday before breaking down, but engineers from the energy department worked to try and restore it. “Nonetheless, we had no major challenge because we have oxygen concentrators and cylinders for patients on life support. We also have smaller generators,” she said.

SMALLER GENERATORS

It is, however, unclear why the smaller generators were not put to use for the seven hours that business stalled at the hospital. Several other patients had to be referred to Tenwek and Kaplong Mission hospitals.

The senior officer said the deaths occurred as they tried to repair the generator. “Before we could finish the process of referring patients, two infants died. A male adult who was on life support at the ICU also died after oxygen supply was cut,” he said.

LACK OF DRUGS

Residents have accused the county of failing to put the health sector in order. “We demand an explanation from the county’s medical services department over the deaths and also lack of drugs at the facility. The services at the hospital are grinding to a halt,” said Mr Lenny Tangus, a resident.

However, Ms Chumo termed the claims baseless, saying they have enough drugs for the hospital and sufficient health workers.